3:30 AM
by Dimmadangit
Summary: Anna now works the early shift at her store and doesn't see anything redeemable about being awake this time of day. Elsa quickly changes that. Coffee house AU (of course), Unrelated Elsanna
1. Chapter 1

Anna was late. She knew waking up for an opening shift was going to be rough, but she didn't expect whatever the heck _that_ was. It could hardly even be considered waking up as she literally rolled out of bed, threw on barely appropriate clothes and only hoped she didn't stink to high heavens.

She made her way to her little car, "I shoulda left earlier," she shivered, "if there's such a thing as earlier than this". Her clunky, zombie-like footsteps on the tarmac were the only sound accompanying her grumbles and mumbles in the early morning air. Too early. Too early for other people, too early for the sun. Too early to hear the unusually quiet highway in the distance. It was too early and Anna was just a little late. She checked her phone for the time and in that very brief moment, "oof-", stumbled right into her car.

"Who put that there?" She breathed in and out and hurriedly massaged her whole face with open palms. "Wake up, wake up, _wake up_... you can do this. You've _gotta_ do this."

She tried the handle, _right right I have to unlock it first,_ and then set forth for her first opening shift.

She'd been a closing shift kind of employee for as long as she could remember, which was probably for the best since she, on average, couldn't wake up before double digits. But then, with great gratitude and slight misfortune, the class she was waitlisted ages for offered her a spot in their summer course. The biggest problem was its runtime, four hours. That big block of time tore through most of Anna's etched-in work schedule and would've left her with hardly any hours- until her manager suggested her the opening shift. Which now, on the road at 3:30 in the morning, Anna was regretting.

Somehow, without hitting any light posts or people, she made it to the overpriced, over-glamorized coffee house she worked at. Her coworker was already there, hulking form lingering by the door. Her headlights flashed over him to reveal his arms crossed and head tilted back. She parked and walked up to him, assuming he was taking a power nap.

"Good morning, sunshine. Late already?"

He wasn't napping.

"Yeah, I didn't realize that 4am was gonna be this early," her voice was more gravelly than a country road.

He opened the door, "what time did you go to bed", let her inside and locked it again, "Kris, I don't even know if I went to bed," and flipped some switches. The cafe area lit up. Anna stumbled her way behind him to the back room and fumbled with her apron.

"So, have you _ever_ opened before?" Kristoff typed his employee numbers into the register.

"Well," Anna huffed, tying her apron proving itself an arduous task, "I was trained ages ago, so _theoretically_ I should be able to open."

His fingers hovered above the computer screen. He turned to her, unamused.

"A simple 'no' would've been fine." He fiddled through a drawer and came out with a list and two headsets.

"Okay, so just follow this." He handed her the list, worn and stained like all things paper in a coffee shop. "I'll be doing my shift duties back here. If you need any help, I can talk you through it on the headset."

Kristoff put his on and sat on the squeaky swivel chair. Anna turned and left the back room, adjusting the giant headset to fit her pea-head. She walked and read and, thanks to the timestamps next to each task, found herself already behind schedule. The tasks themselves weren't hard, a lot of them similar to the work done when she was a closer.

It was just going to take some getting used to in this groggy state of mind. The headset dinged softly to indicate a car in the drive through. Anna was confused.

"Don't answer that." Kristoff's static voice came through. "We still have 20 minutes 'til open."

"So I just, like, leave them there?" Anna didn't think that was nice.

"Yeah."

Then again, Kristoff wasn't nice. Anna rolled her eyes at him, though he couldn't see it, and defied his cynical authority.

"Hi there, welcome to Sven's Den! Uh, unfortunately we aren't open yet, not for a little while. Uhhh..."

"Oh!" A sweet voice crackled in from the drive-through. "No, no, I apologize. Thank you for letting me know."

Anna raised her eyebrows. No shouting, no threatening, no backhanded commentary- perhaps people were nicer in the mornings rather than the obnoxious customers from literal hell she usually dealt with at night. "Yep! No problem. Thank you for understanding," she replied and watched the camera as the car pulled through.

A nasally, high-pitched impersonation of herself came over the headset, " _uhhh unFORtunately, uhhhhh..._ "

Anna, lacking any ability for repartee this early, blew an immature raspberry into the headset microphone. He responded with an equally immature one of his own. As the time wound down to opening, Kristoff made his way back to the floor with register drawers in tow.

"Wow, I'm surprised the building isn't on fire." Anna mustered up the most sour face she could and he chuckled, mostly at his own joke. He tossed the keys at her. "Ready to unlock the doors?"

"Yeah."

She wasn't, evident by her trying the bathroom key, "wrong," then the back door key, "wrong again," and finally the register key, "how are you this wrong?"

"There's only so many keys on here, you'd think I'd get the right one by now," she glared and jingled all four of the keys on the key ring. Kristoff held out his hand and Anna gave up the infuriating item, then he unlocked the door. First try. She walked away, arms in the air.

"Whatever!"

It only took a few minutes for the first (official) customer to come in the drive-through, though it wasn't the person from before. He gave her a big bill.

"Keep the change," he said and drove off.

Anna was once again struck by a nice gesture usually unknown on night shift. As she counted the money, she noticed at the bottom was a folded piece of old receipt paper in the otherwise empty tip jar. She took and held it up. It crinkled as it opened, a handwritten note on one side: "I want to apologize again for this morning in the drive-through, have a great day!"

It was cute. It was dopey. Anna pocketed the receipt in her apron and grinned to herself.

It was a great way to start her first opening shift.


	2. Chapter 2

Anna was more awake for her second shift, though that's not saying much; anything was a step above walking dead. After her long shift the day before, she took an even longer nap. She awoke in a daze, a nap haze, and thought she'd missed her first day of class— forgetting it didn't start until next week. Waking up wasn't any easier. She bumbled to her car- then was caught off guard by the chirp of another car unlocking. Anna was surprised to see someone else in the parking lot, though they were too far away for her to make out any details. Still, _another person awake right now? At this ungodly hour?_

 _There's nothing good about 3:30 in the morning._

Perhaps it was the coffee she downed before she left or perhaps it was that she had about 16 hours of sleep under her belt, but by the time she made it to the store, she was nearly awake enough to "serve up smiles", as Kristoff lovingly deadpanned.

That was until her third, maybe fourth person had gone in the drive-through.

"Hey! Good morning," Anna changed her greeting under Kristoff's suggestion- he had the misguided hope that she could stop telling people to have a good night (it hadn't worked yet), "...and welcome to Sven's Den. What can I get for you today?"

A delayed answer came through. "I'm not entirely sure."

"Uh, well, what do you like?"

"... I'm, mm, not entirely sure."

Anna's face fell, annoyed.

"Can you recommend me something?"

Usually Anna would "recommend" that someone like this in the drive-through should suck it and leave. It took her a moment to come up with an _actual_ reply.

"A recommendation? How much time do you have?" A joke.

"Honestly, I don't have to be anywhere soon." Not taken as a joke.

"Okay. There's, uh..." she was used to this. She had automatic responses set aside exactly for moments like this. Literal _tons_ of ideas popped into her head that she couldn't quite iterate and instead, for whatever ridiculous reason, said "it would be a little easier if you came inside."

Anna of course hadn't _meant_ to say it out loud and rushed out some damage control.

"I mean, okay, it might sound a little unorthodox, but would you like to come inside the building? Like, if you've got time, I've got time, I've also got hand gestures up the wazoo-"

A polite laugh into her headset signaled the end of her verbal hole-digging, "yes, I can do that."

Anna waited for the car to pull around before reaching for her headset. "Why did I say that? Wha-, I've never asked that before. I've literally never said that combination of words before, and I've literally, _literally_ , never said the word wazoo."

Kristoff buzzed in, "yeah, I didn't stop you because you were on such a roll there."

Helpful.

"If it makes you feel better, when I first started opening, I'd had my fair share of disappointingly idiotic moments here. It was so hard to adjust to the time that I would flip drinks upside down in front of the customers before handing it to them, as if I still worked at that Snow Queen Ice Cream place." Anna laughed, he continued. "There's a guy who can't go in the drive through if I'm working because he thinks I'll wreck the outside of his car again. I think what you said is fine, she didn't seem to hate you, at least."

Anna had a sneaking suspicion that this was the same woman from yesterday, the same woman whose note was in her pocket. Though that thought left her when the woman walked in the door. As did all thoughts. She was very striking, yes, as all of Anna's gay years in her gay existence could attest to. No, what truly grabbed Anna's attention was the woman's demeanor; like she didn't know it was five in the morning. Like instead of 5 AM, it was 5 PM and she'd been up for hours. She didn't even look like she needed the caffeine. Anna was almost jealous of that, since her whole reality sadly revolved around the stuff.

Plus, she herself had _actually_ been up for hours and still looked and felt like a rag-tag sack of dusty potatoes.

Kristoff was still rambling in the headset, going on about "making the moment right, etcetera". A car dinged through, "Kristoff, can you answer that", and Anna took the device off her head, onto the counter.

When Anna looked up, the woman was in front of her, hands clasping the purse strap on her shoulder.

"Hi," she said with a soft smile.

"Hi," Anna parroted, smile growing slowly before remembering her role and throwing on her Customer Service Voice, "So, what kind of flavors do you like—"

"Sorry for being a disaster to talk to. I don't do this kind of..." she motioned to the entirety of the bar and register, "...thing much."

"Oh, uh," Anna looked around; Kristoff was busy at the drive through window and wouldn't be able to hear. She leaned in really close and talked beside the back of her hand in a hushed, secretive tone.

"Honestly, there's so much stuff, I'm glad I work here and get paid to understand it, instead of being on that side of this counter," Anna tapped it with her free hand, "I swear, only like five things actually taste good."

The woman leaned in, curiosity sparkled in her eyes.

"What kind of things?"

"Well," Anna took on a confident air, "they're usually kept a secret by the head honchos _buuut_ I know some stuff. For instance, something for someone who's kind of easing their way into coffee, I'm assuming," A lilt in her voice punctuated with raised eyebrows made it a question that the woman nodded along with. "I would suggest something sweet, something yummy, and something with a buttload of whipped cream. How does a white chocolate mocha sound to you?"

"I mean, it _does_ have the word 'chocolate' in it." The woman cupped her chin, pretending to ponder, "yep, I'm sold."

"At least you aren't very picky." Anna typed the order into the register. "Are you sure you don't want a large iced white mocha, quad, long shot, half almond- half coconut milk, with extra _extra_ whip... _Shaken?_ "

"One day, with your help, I just might. Today I want to live." To that, Anna chuckled and sent the order through.

"This one's on me." She pointed. "You go sit, do whatcha gotta do. I'll have this out in a sec."

The woman looked surprised, perplexed. "Really?"

Anna's head bobbed. "Yep! You just have to promise to tell me if it sucks or not." A dismissive wave of her hand, "shoo, go sit," and she herself went to the espresso machine.

* * *

Anna set two drinks on the table that the woman so patiently waited at; one hot white chocolate mocha (temperature lessened for an easy taste test), and one large iced quad long shot white mocha, almond- and coconut-milk hybrid, somehow shaken, an ample pile of whipped cream— straight from the depths of hell.

It looked awful and overflowed thusly.

"Ready to try it?"

Their eyes playfully met.

"I'll drink it if you do."

They both smiled. Anna braved the drink first, subdued a reaction, _no no it's good it's good,_ then offered it to the woman. She was justifiably cautious, eyes darting between Anna and the offending object. She didn't mind sharing the straw.

It was-

"Oh my god!"

"Terrible!"

"Truly awful, I can't believe you held it in that long."

It was really appalling, and they really, _really_ enjoyed themselves. The woman took a sip of her (good) drink and hummed in satisfaction. She looked to Anna.

"Thank you so much for this... Kristoff?"

Anna briefly panicked, and the woman pointed to her name tag. "What? Oh! I uh, no no, this is my coworker's name tag. We swapped and we- I- I'm-" Anna thrust out a hand as a pause on her word vomit. "I'm Anna."

Their hands meet with a light grip.

"I'm Elsa."


	3. Chapter 3

By her third shift, Anna found that by swinging her feet before getting out of bed, she'd avoid the formerly-inevitable faceplant (to which she gave herself a small sarcastic round of applause). The drive to work was still rough. She yawned all too often during to truthfully say her eyes were kept on the road.

Halfway through their allotted prep time, Kristoff nonchalantly mentioned that inside-out shirts were against the employee dress code and she paused to looked at herself before angrily throwing her apron at him, "you know I don't mean to wear it like this, you big butt, you coulda just told me directly!" She did her opening tasks without the list and was only behind by five minutes, and just two things were forgotten. An improvement.

Elsa snuck in about a quarter to five, appearing more awake and alive than Anna could ever. Anna's head popped up at the sound of the door chime.

"Morning, you! What'll you have today?"

"Well," Elsa made her way to the register, "someone really knowledgeable once told me that there were only five good things here... Do you happen to know what else is on that list?"

Anna smirked and pondered, her eyes glazed over the menu and the names of the drinks blurred. None of them felt good enough for the woman in front of her.

Then, an idea.

"I just might know of a drink. A surprise drink. This surprise drink is a drink so forbidden, there isn't even a button for it." Anna leaned past the register and deliberately raised her eyebrows. "Not any more, I mean. It's just a cup of seasonal sugar. They get rid of the buttons on this machine all the time even though we keep the flavors around." She shrugged exaggeratedly and muttered, _insider tricks and tips._

Elsa squeezed the strap in her grasp, reached into her purse, and placed a card on the counter. Anna pressed buttons on the register and then went to the espresso machine, studiously ignoring the card with purpose and a big grin on her face.

"Hey, you forgot my-"

"Hmm? What?" A loud screech from steaming milk interrupted Elsa. "Sorry I can't hear you, what?"

Elsa finally understood Anna's smugness. "Okay, alright. Are you always going to pay for my drinks?"

Anna pumped some syrups into a cup. "As long as you keep taste-testing my terrible creations."

Elsa smiled in response.

Anna pressed the button for espresso shots before beginning. "Hey, so, I'm curious. What do you do so early in the morning?"

Elsa's smile fled and her eyebrows shot up. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Anna tamped the milk, "I leave my house at 3:30, it takes me half an hour to get here, we prep for a 4:30 open and even this long after waking up, I'm still exhausted. I wouldn't be awake at this hour if I didn't have to be. I just wonder why you are."

Elsa nodded slightly, gave a small shrug.

"I- well, I like the drive."

"The-" Anna sputtered, "-the _drive_? At _four in the morning?"_

"I know it's silly-" to this, Anna loudly and pointedly grumbled _what an understatement_ , "it's such a surreal feeling to know that no one else is awake right now. The stars shine brighter. The air stands still. There's no traffic, no honking. No waiting at lights. The only lit up parts of the city are the ones chosen to be seen. Even though this place isn't super ritzy, that view is outstanding and it feels amazing to know that you're it's only witness. Like it was made for you."

That struck something deep inside Anna and she felt herself becoming a fluttery mess. Her eyes had widened as Elsa talked. She loved what Elsa said and felt and, in that moment, felt it too.

"Wow, I, I've never-" Anna laughed nervously and tucked some hair behind her ear. "I guess I haven't experienced that yet."

"Maybe someday you'll get to."

Anna tried to focus on finishing the drink in front of her, her attempt of foam foliage becoming shapeless anomalies that she quickly covered in caramel.

"Uh, well, here you go." She passed the drink over the counter. "Try it?"

"Are you going to make some obnoxious mutation of this one?" A sip.

"Nah, not this one. It's got a lot-"

"—Wow, that is _sweet!"_ Elsa's face puckered like it was sour and she held it away like it was on fire.

Anna let out a hearty bark of a laugh. "Yeah! It's a mocha with toffee nut and caramel drizzle." She added under her breath, _though now I know not to make it for you again._

"No, no!" Elsa took a sip, a _gulp_ actually, "I like it. That first sip i-is surprising, is all."

Anna watched as Elsa drank, exaggeratedly. Elsa _ahhed_ in delight. She looked at her wristwatch and noted the time with an abrupt hum.

"I've got to get going. Anna, thank you so much again!"

"No, no, thank you, um, Elsa. Have a great night!"

Elsa smiled and left, the door chimed as she exited. Anna sighed, content. Then, her eyes widened.

"I mean have a great _day,_ " She yelled to no one.

Kristoff had finished with the line in the drive-through and was the sole witness to Anna's interaction with the wall. "Ah, dang, there you go again. I think maybe it'd be easier if you did what I do and say, ' _have a good one'._ Daytime? 'Have a good one'. Night time? 'Have a good one'. See, it's a phrase that you can say so super offhandedly— _aaaaand_ you're not paying attention to me."

Anna was carelessly wiping a spot on the countertop, "of course I am," the _same_ spot, over and over. He breathed out a laugh.

"Oh, I get it. She's your crush-tomer."

"My," Anna paused in her useless counter wiping, " _my what?_ "

"You know," he waggled his eyebrows, "a customer who's a crush. A crush-tomer." A car dinged through and he turned with a sly smile to answer it right away. Anna ignored Kristoff's blatant mockery and rolled her eyes. She looked at the door.

So he was an ass. But there was a slight chance that he was possibly, perhaps, probably, and without a doubt right.


	4. Chapter 4

As Anna woke up for her fourth shift, she was instantly overcome with the thought that she can't do it anymore. The waking up, the functioning this early. She needed sleep. People need sleep! _Maybe I can blame my alarm- MAYBE I can say it never even went off._ But she rolled out of bed, oozing with complaints, and threw on whatever she found in a pile on the floor. Definitely asleep the whole time.

Anna sleepwalked out her door, sleepwalked down the stairs, sleepwalked _back_ up the stairs to lock her door, and sleepwalked through the parking lot. It wasn't until she neared her car that she was truly aware of her surroundings when she saw someone else, someone close. Close enough to see that this certain someone was none other than Customer Number One, Elsa. She stood by Anna's car and presumably her own car parked next to it.

"Oh, good morning!" Elsa fiddled with the fob, a small _blip_ unlocked the car.

"Hey! Wow, hi!" Anna replied, voice gruff. She cleared her throat. "You," Anna looked around to see if she's outside her own apartments or if she somehow stumbled somewhere else in the middle of the night, "you live here too?"

Elsa nodded and motioned her hand toward a building on the other side of the parking lot, "I do, in apartment B." Her hands came together in front of her in a polite clasp.

"Wow." Anna chuckled to herself and shook her head lightly. "Small world, huh?"

The air is calm, still. There's a big pause in nature where it can't decide whether it's very late at night or very early in the morning, so it instead feels like everything has stopped. It just might've while Anna looked her morning companion up and down. She sighed, content. Then, she remembered where she was and where they were and that work existed _for some reason_ and walked backward blindly.

"I, I—" Anna unexpectedly bumped into her car, "—gotta go, uh," she scratched her neck, keys dangled and jangled, "will you be swinging by the Den later?"

Elsa gave a half grin, "it _is_ on my to-do list."

The younger girl smiled wholly, happily. "Well then, enjoy your scenic drive!"

Anna hopped into her car and waited for Elsa to do the same. Elsa waved as she passed behind Anna's car, Anna waved back in the rear view mirror, and as she sped off on her own route, she finds herself driving more awake than she'd ever been at 3:30AM.

When Elsa walked into the store an hour or so later, she seemed so awake, alive. Invigorated even. Anna was relieved to see her. Though she knew Elsa would come in, had even _talked_ to her about it, it was still an exciting surprise.

"Hey! Okay, I spent all morning figuring out what drink to make you. This one'll be perfect— it's not too sweet like yesterday's mistake," to this, Elsa let out a single loud laugh, "it's not very bitter, and it looks real neat. I'll make it iced too so you can see it in all its glory. It's called a Caramel Macchiato, you interested?"

Elsa set her bag on the counter. "That sounds fancy."

"Don't let the name fool ya, it's not fancy at all. It's pretty lazy if you ask me. I think the word _macchiato_ is Italian for marked? So the drink's all layered up with espresso shots on top that 'marks' the milk. We don't even mix it."

"That sounds perfect," she dug around in her bag, "and very thoughtful. Thank you." Elsa smiled the most truthful smile Anna'd seen her do and Anna did her best to capture the moment without staring too hard.

It felt like a morning mug of coffee, a warm hug, and a kick of caffeine, all pleasantly gleaming in one bright, lovely smile.

Elsa put her card on the counter and slid it to Anna's side. Anna flicked it away like some crumb on a table, _get that outta here_ , and sashayed her way to the espresso machine. Elsa rolled her eyes and gathered her things. She fidgeted with the strap of her bag as she slowly strolled to the end of the bar.

"What kind of terrible modifications could you make out of that drink?" Elsa pointed, "it already sounds complicated."

"Well _some people_ like to order it upside down," Anna opened the ice machine, "and what that means is that they really just want a vanilla latte," she scooped ice noisily and looked Elsa straight in the eye, "so I like to be a real petty barista and literally, actually make it _upside down._ " She all but tossed the ice into the cup, eyes still locked on Elsa's. More ice cubes landed on the floor than in the cup. She kicked them away.

Anna with her steady hands pumped and poured and drizzled into the two cups. In front of her were two of the same drink, the same ingredients, but one went dark to light and the other went light to dark. Petty. She passed the upside down one over to Elsa and handed her a straw.

"This might be strong at first, since all of the espresso is at the bottom where the straw goes." She grimaced as Elsa took a long sip.

"Well, how is it?"

"See for yourself," Elsa says and offers the drink.

"Hmm. I'll pass." Anna smirked. Elsa shook her head, happy. Then faltered.

"Anna," the barista placed a lid on the other drink and looked up, "I was wondering if you'd want to, well, if you would like to, um..."

Anna pushed the completed (correct) drink across the counter and set a straw flat atop the lid. She waited patiently as Elsa thought, a small bite of her lip.

"Come with me on my drive tomorrow."

Anna nearly said yes, she very desperately wanted to say yes, so naturally the first thing that came out of her mouth was the loudest, whiniest complaint; "but tomorrow's my day _offffff."_

Elsa expected as much.

"It's alright if you don't want to go-"

"I mean, yes. I would love to. Even though I could be sleeping in instead." Anna wiped down the outside of the espresso machine, nonchalant in tone as her nerves exploded inside.

"Ah! I heard a 'yes', so I'll take it as a 'yes'." She took a sip from her drink, the straw lingered in her lips as she briefly considered her next words. "It's a date."

"Wha- wait, wait, it's a what now-"

"Wow, this drink might be a winner!" Elsa interrupted, examining it from arms length. "Yes, I do like that. The last two on that list of good drinks have some big shoes to fill."

She grinned at Anna. "Will you meet me in the parking lot tomorrow, say 3:30?"

And all Anna _could_ do in that moment was say "3:30". She was in awe still, and probably stared.

Elsa's face softened. "Thank you. See you then!" And Anna watched as Elsa, who seemingly walked in slow-motion and sipped happily on a new favorite, left her for the second time that day.

The entirety of the rest of her shift was quick, blurred from thoughts of spending time with Elsa. Someone in the drive through said "I'd like a tall blonde", in reference to the light roast on tap. Anna, daydreaming, let a sigh slip out, "me too, buddy". Kristoff laughed way too hard.


	5. Chapter 5

Quick author's note: I want to thank you for reading this far! I've changed the fourth chapter _juuuuust_ slightly. If you wanna go back a chapter to reread it, great! If you wanna keep bustling through, great! If you're a new reader and didn't see the fourth chapter before it was changed and all of this is just a lengthy author's note, great! Welcome!

* * *

Anna can't sleep. It's almost three in the morning and Anna hasn't slept and couldn't sleep, all because Elsa called it a date. Sure, she probably didn't mean it that way and their customer-employee relationship just so happened to be borderline flirty, but the coy way Elsa'd said it led Anna to believe, to _hope_ that there was the smallest, tiniest speck of a chance that it was, in fact, a date.

Drip drops outside her windows briefly worry her- Elsa might cancel due to weather. That adds to the nerves. Anna got ready regardless. The sleepiness takes over as she stuck a leg in her shorts and paused to yawn, stumble, and shove her other leg through. "Don't say anything stupid," she warned herself.

She creaked her door shut and her umbrella began to echo with heavy pitter patters immediately. She stepped in a shallow puddle, another. A single car in the parking lot had its lights on, illuminating the rain and Anna went toward it. "Hope that's Elsa's _'caaaauuuuse..."_

She got close enough for the lights to shine on her body when the car door swung open and Elsa came out. They each paused where they were. "Anna!"

The rain was loud, they laugh-shout their greetings, "hey!", "hi!", and went to meet halfway.

Anna cupped her free hand around her mouth to yell. "It's really coming down, huh?"

"Looks like it! Ah," They were close enough to where they didn't have to yell anymore and Anna lifted her umbrella up to be above both of them. Elsa hesitated before accepting the invitation. "It's kind of nice, though."

"Yeah!" Anna gave a toothy grin. She got a good look at Elsa then, clothes wet from the short walk. Anna in that moment became aware of how much space the coffeehouse counter actually took up and without it, there was hardly any distance between them. It felt like their own little bubble, just them, shrouded from the rain. The sound of it all around them was comforting. She swears she could stay there in that one spot forever, this close to Elsa in this bizarrely beautiful and incredibly circumstantial scene. It doesn't help that the bright light behind Elsa illuminates her like a saint and she thought to herself _good_ _luck unseeing_ that _imagery_. She gestured behind Elsa to the car, "shall we?"

Elsa nodded and Anna held the umbrella as they walked together to the open driver's side door, "why, thank you", then in through the passenger side. The sound of the rain changed substantially as the doors shut. Anna shook out the umbrella and then very obviously didn't know what to do with it as she _sloooowly_ and uncertainly placed it by her feet. Elsa watched, smiled.

"Are you ready?"

A nod, and Elsa started the car.

They left their parking lot and Anna heard the rev of the engine right before an eager "hang on". They zoomed down a road that was usually so busy, so trafficky, that it now being empty was unheard of. Drops pounded loudly on the windshield.

Anna didn't know what to say, and couldn't say much over the downpour. She turned to Elsa and realized she didn't actually have to say _anything_. Elsa was in the zone.

The street lights lit up the smallest of spots. They passed a wet playground, normally bright colors oddly muted. The traffic lights refracted in the rain, reflected on the road. Each green until there weren't any anymore.

They drove down a road that Anna'd never driven down, never even seen before. It had wonderfully large houses probably marketed in the millions, yards dimly lit by street lamps and staked bulb lights. Big spaces between them, small fences. Lights out. The roadside drastically changed from suburbs to open field. The city seemed so far behind them, in distance and existence. The rain coupled with the atmosphere provided so much peace, so much freedom.

Anna looked Elsa. The faint light of the dashboard lit up the smallest bit of her soft facial features and caught on her eyelashes. Anna was indeed staring too much, too hard and diverted her line of sight to the window, where she pointed, excited.

"Wow! When did a lake get here?" She leaned onto Elsa's side.

"I can assure you, it was here before the rain." Elsa's amused grin was in full force.

"Alright, alright." Anna sat back in her seat and drummed on her legs. "Do you usually have any destinations or do you drive around with _reckless abandon?_ " She asked.

"It's not really first date material."

"So," flutters surfaced, "you agree this is a first date?" Just that silent smile in response.

"There's a nice 24-hour diner on North, want to go?"

Anna excitedly nodded with a small "heck yeah I do" and Elsa flipped on her blinker to turn onto the next street, even with no one else driving, no one else around, no one else awake.

The diner was a little hole in the wall kind of place, emphasis on the hole. It laid in blink-and-miss alley between a chiropractic acupuncturist's office and a small family-operated spa, which was probably why Anna'd never seen it before, even though it was a street she frequented. They parked in the vastly empty street and Elsa looked over at her companion, who gave a mischievous grin. They sprinted through the rain, laughing, umbrella foregone. The cool morning air contrasted with the warm summer droplets. Elsa held the door for Anna, who mock-curtseyed and stomped her wet shoes onto the mat provided.

There was only one other patron in the diner, nursing a steaming cup and hunched over a newspaper. They opted for a booth nearby. An unusually perky girl greeted them immediately with her pen and pad of paper. Anna asked for a cup of coffee, "and please, _please_ , keep 'em comin',"

Elsa, cool as ever, simply asked for water.

"You don't want coffee?" Anna asked when the waitress walked away.

"I told you," a soft laugh, "I don't do that kind of thing much."

"'Thing'... as in coffee? Or 'thing' as in c-caffeine in general?" And she was given a shrug as an answer. She wanted to investigate further but the waitress came back with a coffee pot and a pitcher of water.

"Here's a couple menus, I'll give you two a moment to look over them."

Menus already forgotten, Anna began to open container after container of little creamer packs and pour them into her coffee. After about five or six, Elsa- simultaneously intrigued and disturbed- pointed to the remaining few packs of creamer on the table and said "you missed some". Anna, eyes wide and tone sassy, replied, "I wasn't done yet," and continued to open those little containers and dump them into her increasingly lightening coffee until she ran out of the ones provided on the table.

"Done?" Elsa asked as she looked between Anna and her biggest mutation of coffee to date.

Anna stirred her cup. "Only 'cause there's no more creamers."

"Oh?" Elsa quirked an eyebrow, stood, and went over to another table, eyes locked on Anna's playfully. She turned to the other table and her body blocked Anna's view of whatever she was doing. She pivoted back around and in doing so, slowly revealed an arm full of little creamer packets. Anna laughed really loud and quickly covered her mouth. The waitress came by to check up on them and saw Elsa with the ridiculous amount of creamer.

"You girls need more coffee? Another mug, perhaps?" Elsa dumped the pile of creamers onto the table and politely shook her head. "No thank you. This is just for one cup of coffee." Anna lost it then and hid her cackling behind a menu.

The waitress backed away, "I'll, uh, I'll give you guys another sec then..."

Anna hadn't really thought about eating because it's so early. She doesn't even know if her stomach works at this hour. She leaned out from her hiding spot behind the menu to say just that, though by the matching grimace on Elsa's face, it seemed like she felt the same way.

"Pssst, Elsa," she shout-whispered, "want anything?"

Elsa looked over the menu again, pondering, before smacking it shut and resting her palms on it.

"Only a taste of your terrible coffee. Though, can it still be called that?"

It couldn't. Anna drank the whole cup anyway. Elsa of course didn't like it, even though it was a solid 75/25 ratio of milk to coffee. When it was time to pay, Elsa bat away Anna's card and Anna, mocking, asked, " _are you ever gonna let me pay for my own coffee?_ "

They snuck a large tip onto the table as they left. The rain has stopped. The sky was a pale, gloomy grey. The girls didn't take note. They quietly walked to the car and settled for the drive back. Anna almost wondered how long they'll stay in silence.

"Alright, I gotta know." Not long at all, apparently. "How do you stay up this early in the morning? Since you obviously don't rely on caffeine." She yawned.

"I have something even better than caffeine" Eyebrows shot up at the crude accusation. Elsa quietly reached to the CD player, fingers lingered above the play button, and ever so slowly pressed it. Anna's body all but slammed back against the seat as the loudest, hippest, _danciest_ Scottish Riverdance music possible began to play. The bagpipes reverberated in her head. She swears that her ancestors, past and future, are able to hear this music. Elsa only bopped around in her seat and made no indication that it's loud at all.

After a while, she turned to Anna to gauge her reaction; wide eyed in half-shock, half-elation, and fully trying to process what the heck was going on. Elsa turned the music down; not all the way, but enough to where she'd no longer need to shout. Her fingers loosely wrapped around the volume dial. They hovered there while she spoke.

"I like to play Scottish bagpipes really loud in the morning. It keeps me going, more than coffee could ever. This CD is one that my mom had, and it's very old so it has lots of skips but that sort of adds to it, you know?" Anna nodded, slowly at first and then picked up speed until she bobbed vigorously, agreeing wholeheartedly. She opened her mouth to say something and found herself speechless. Instead she grasped the top of Elsa's hand and softly pivoted, cranking the music up.

The butterflies she felt from that brief hand-holding only fueled her newfound desire to dance.

They pulled into the apartment parking lot, still bopping in their seats, the vehicle did the same and swayed side to side. Elsa turned off the car and it was abrupt in sudden silence. They got out of the car, Anna yawned and stepped in a puddle and even that splash was loud compared to how quiet everything else was.

"Hey," she rounded the car to Elsa's side, "I wanna thank you. This was really, _reeeaaaally_ -" a hefty yawn interrupted. She smacked her lips together, "-just super nice."

"I want to thank you too." Elsa pat her shoulder. "And also tell you to get some rest."

Anna chuckled and then, in the spur of the moment, hugged her. It felt natural and she looked so warm and soft that it almost didn't occur to her that hugging could've been weird. It might've been weird. Elsa's arms rested where they were before. It wasn't quite an embrace, but it wasn't uncomfortable.

"I work tomorrow, but uh," Anna released Elsa from her grip, "we should definitely do this again sometime."

Another careful consideration of her words.

"I'd like that."

Anna went up the stairs to her apartment, waved goodbye the whole way and only stumbled once, then promptly dove into bed where she had dreams of milky coffee and a girl that she could no longer call _just a customer._

* * *

"Chiropractic acupuncturist" aka a backstabber aka the slightest inclusion of Hans in this story that I could think of.


	6. Chapter 6

The next day, Anna arose on the alarm clock's first chime, not falling for the snooze button's seductive charms. Perhaps it was the adrenaline, the promise of a good day. She had time to do the things she'd accidentally neglect, like make sure her clothing was right-side out, that sort of thing. She even had a chance to fix her hair into the two braids she'd claimed was her signature style way back before this whole _waking up early_ garbage.

With ample amounts of time left, she moseyed through the parking lot. Her car was parked beside Elsa's again, both dark, empty. She reeled back, puzzled; could it be, somehow she was earlier than Elsa?

She heard heels on pavement, turned toward the sound, and there was the girl in question under the single working light in the parking lot of the apartment complex. Click, clack, click clack. Anna whistled a two-toned tweet at Elsa, who packed papers into her purse. She looked up at the sound of the song and laughed lightly at its wildly waving singer, eyebrows coming together in mild confusion as she click-clacked closer.

"Well, aren't you early," she brought her arm up to glance at her wrist watch, "unless I'm late?"

Anna rolled her eyes, "like you could ever be late," and grinned gleefully as Elsa came to a stop. Almost close enough to touch, almost close enough to hug.

"Is that a challenge?" Elsa teased. She glanced at her car and unlocked it, Anna stuffed her hands in her pockets.

"I had a great time yesterday. Thank you."

"You've already thanked me —"

"—Okay, then I wanna thank you _again_ ," Anna emphasized with a single nod. "Coming to the Den?"

She hummed in thought. "Perhaps. Will I see you there?"

Anna sashayed sassily to her car and unlocked it. " _Perhaps_ ," she stated and smiled and waved goodbye. As she drove away, she thought to herself, if Elsa was always going to be her first interaction of the day, she could count on everyday being the best.

She took the roads slow. At a usual intersection, all lights blinking red, she was reminded that just a day ago they'd been at this exact spot. _Elsa_ _turned right here, though_ , she thought. And as she considered ignoring her adventurous impulses and going straight through the light, her hands decided _for her_ and turned the wheel of their own accord. She briefly feared she'd get lost on such an unknown road and become late for work, then waved the feeling away like it was a big stink.

Patches of fog rolled over the desolate road. It was the same neighborhood that they had been down just the day before, without the rain. The moon shone brightly onto the rooftops of the houses and awnings of the windows, illuminating the purposefully protruding features. Her foot pressed down on the gas pedal, harder and harder until she felt the floor. The engine revved and she zoomed down the road, houses flew by. They turned to distant shapeless blurs as she passed them and then the open field. She was beside the lake, the moonlight danced across its surface as it tried to keep up with her. She was beginning to understand why Elsa enjoyed driving this early in the morning.

Anna never knew how good it felt to be alone, and had never felt less lonely.

She must've had a happy, starstruck demeanor about her when she pulled up to work. Kristoff took one look at her and his eyebrows shot up, "wow, you almost look like you got up on the right side of the bed this morning," he yawned and stuck the key into the door, "heck, you even look like you got out of bed this morning." Anna let out a single elongated " _haaaaaaa_ " as he unlocked the door.

Around 6am, Elsa's car drove into the parking lot. The sun began to rise. Anna watched her pull into a parking spot.

"Oh, is Elsa here?" Kristoff asked, pouring beans into the grinder. Of course he could tell from the– apparently poorly concealed– excitement on her face. "She's later than usual." Anna was impressed that Kristoff happened to know a detail like that and opened her mouth to say so when he continued, "I thought she was a vampire on account of the fact that I've never seen her in daylight. Guess I was wrong."

Flabbergasted. That was all she could be. "Kris, seriously?" He half-shrugged in response. "If she was a vampire, she couldn't come inside without being invited."

It was his turn to be flabbergasted, maybe even a little offended as he had clearly already thought of that. "Uh, hello! Our door says 'welcome' right on the front of it!" Said door swung open with a small chime and Anna shot Kristoff one last glare and a _shh_ over the headset before greeting Elsa with a smirk.

"Alright, you. Coming in _fashionably_ late, I see. Ready for something new?" Elsa nodded with a small yes. Anna didn't bother to stay near the register, lest Elsa stubbornly try to buy her own drinks again, and went straight to the espresso machine. "This one will taste like robust coffee- I know what you're thinking, 'I don't like the taste of the stuff, didn't you see me cringe yesterday morning after the tiniest sip of that so-called coffee, yadda yadda', I know, _I know_. But this is different!"

Elsa didn't miss a beat, "I bet you say that to all the girls."

"I sure do, pay attention," Anna pressed seemingly random buttons on the machine. "It's literally the perfect latte, called a flat white. It's masterfully created using microfoam and sweet ristretto shots. According to the latest edition of the Anna Coffee Course syllabus, we've gotta expand your palette before honing in on a favorite."

Anna pulled shots and tamped perfect milk on the counter a few times before pouring them together. Traditionally, the drink was supposed to be marked on top with a single dot, formed from smooth foamed milk and Anna knew that. She'd made the drink many a time. Yet she couldn't help herself and, with a practiced hand, swiftly dragged the milk down to make a white heart. _Elsa won't see it anyway_ , she reasoned and promptly lidded it.

The moment of truth came as Anna pushed it across the counter. Elsa eyed it and then Anna, like a deer being offered food from a hand; cautious yet willing. She grasped the cup with both hands and took a sip from it. Anna was more invested in watching than she'd thought she'd be and tried to busy herself with making the modified second drink. She steamed some more milk and Elsa pulled the cup from her mouth, face imperceptible. Then unexpectedly, she went in for another sip and came back with the same expression. By the third sip, Anna'd finished making the other drink and spoke up. "Okay, I- honestly, I can't tell if you like it or not. I need like, a smile or a pout or... y'know, give me something to work with here."

Elsa took a look at Anna and then, sass lining her features, went in for another audibly exaggerated sip.

"It's not bad," she started, pulling the cup from her lips, "I can see the appeal. But it is sort of..." She searched for the word and came back empty.

"Earthy?" Anna offered. "That's the word I use when I don't want to say _'it tastes like dirt'."_ Elsa laughed.

"Yes, that's it. Earthy. It's a well-crafted cup of dirt."

Anna mock-bowed, "that's my forte," and placed a lid on the second drink. "Here, try this. I'm not really, uh," she scratched the back of her neck, "I'm not entirely sure how I made this. I wasn't really-, you distracted me. _Anywhooo_ , I know that it's got the components of a flat white and then some caramel, white chocolate..." She went to hand the drink over.

Elsa chuckled. "I'm sensing a theme in what kind of flavors you like," she said and reached for the cup.

Their fingers grazed. A light brush, barely a touch, and it was enough for her synapses to go haywire and her insides to explode. She let go and brought her hands together in a tight clasp in front of herself, _keep it together, KEEP IT TOGETHER_.

Elsa took a careful sip and reeled back in delight. "Wow, this is," she smacked her lips together delicately, "rich, sweet, a little salty... I like it." She graciously gulped the drink.

Anna was elated, "you do?"

She nodded. "I do. A lot. This is how people get into coffee. It's a gateway drug, isn't it?"

Anna bit her lip and suppressed the urge to say _gateway mug_ as she began to clean up. Elsa continued to sip happily.

"Elsa, I was sort of... wondering." Anna paused with the pitcher in hand. "Would you like to go for another ride? I can drive. I don't work tomorrow."

"Yes, I'd love to." And Anna smiled a big smile that made her cheeks hurt.

Elsa peered over the cup at her. "Your braids look nice, by the way. They suit you well." She took another hearty sip. "I'll see you tomorrow then?"

Anna tried to be cocky and waggled her eyebrows. She stuttered on her first try, "i-it's," cleared her throat, looked Elsa right in the eyes, and annunciated.

"It's a date."

* * *

Anna didn't really sleep. Her alarm went off and immediately she felt excited and tired and so _very_ exhausted. She got ready nevertheless. In the middle of brushing her teeth, she looked at the ends of her hair draped over her shoulders and was reminded of Elsa complimenting her braids. The toothbrush hung from her mouth as she mindlessly let go of it and began braiding her hair, no stray hair forgotten. When done, she gave herself a foamy smile in the mirror.

Elsa was already waiting beside their cars when Anna went outside. "Good morning, Anna. Mind if I drive again today?" Anna jogged over to her with a small _mornin_ '.

"Uh, you know," she panted, "even though I offered yesterday, I was kinda hoping you would."

They drove down the main road, a long one that led to a highway divergent. Anna took note of the lack of houses and thought to herself, finally. She rolled down the window, letting the wind blast in and she unbuckled her seatbelt. She took a look at a perplexed Elsa before she shoved her face outside and reared back with a big gulp of air.

"WAHOOOOOOO!"

Her grip on the car door loosened as she stuck her head back inside the vehicle.

"What was that?" Elsa asked over the wind.

"I really wanted to do this that other day but it was raining so hard and I thought maybe it would feel like bullets pelting me in the face," Anna said and stuck her head out again for more whooping and hollering.

Elsa nodded, more to herself as Anna was occupied, and rolled down her own window. She set the cruise control and took a deep breath.

"YEEEEEAAAAH!" She shouted outside and immediately laughed just as loud. Anna turned to look at her and everything stood still. Elsa's face was lit up by the passing amber city lights and her own honest-to-goodness happiness. She was outstanding, and Anna couldn't express how lucky she felt that she was the only witness of this moment. Like this moment was made for her.

And that's when Anna realized that this wasn't just a simple little crush.

"Oh, crap," she breathed out shakily. The wind smacked her braids into her face uncomfortably.

Elsa came back inside the car, laughing breathlessly. "Now that was exciting!"

Anna rolled her window up and Elsa followed. "Yeah it, uh," she ran a hand through her bangs, "it sorta made me a little thirsty."

Elsa agreed. "Diner?"

"Diner."

Elsa turned on the stereo and cranked the music up.

* * *

It was almost deja vu. They sat at the same booth as last time and were met by the same waitress with the same out-of-place perkiness. There were two other patrons engaged in mild conversation with each other, and that coupled with the low music playing over hidden speakers kept the volume at a dull roar.

"Can I please get a hot cocoa?" Anna asked the waitress after they were greeted, and as a shy afterthought, she muttered, "with extra whipped cream, please."

Elsa, eyes wide and taken aback, asked for the same and a cup of water. The waitress wrote and smiled and left them alone.

"You aren't getting coffee this time?"

Anna pretended to look over the menu. "Someone once taught me that instead of caffeine, all I need is some loud Scottish music."

That emitted a soft laugh from Elsa. She opened her own provided menu. "So, what do you want to do today?"

"I have to decide?"

"Well," Elsa coolly flipped a page, "you invited me this time. You get to pick the itinerary."

Anna wasn't sure what to do, but was certain of one thing: she was determined to eat something from the diner this time. Her stomach had different plans, on the other hand, as it grumbled unhappily when she opened the menu. Elsa placed her hand on Anna's menu to garner her attention. "Psst, do you want to split some cheese fries?"

"Only if they're exactly what they sound like," she replied. Their eyes met and, out of nerves or habit (she couldn't decide), Anna tucked hair behind her ear. This action prompted her to look away and upon doing so, saw the end of their table and hid a laugh behind her hand. "Elsa, do you think..." she pointed to it with her free hand. Elsa leaned over the table, eyes focused on the direction Anna was pointing, "...that's because of us?"

At the end of their booth, there were about forty or fifty of those creamers stacked pyramid style. It was like that on every table around. Anna no longer stifled her chuckles as Elsa let loose a boisterous laugh. Their faces weren't that far away from each other and Anna couldn't peel her eyes from Elsa's lips.

The waitress brought a tray carrying the two hot cocoas with overflowing whipped cream and a glass of water to the table. Anna tore her eyes from Elsa's mouth and they landed on the glass of water. She watched as the waitress set it down- the overhead bulbs reflecting off the ripples, little waves dancing in the white light. She was so lost in thought and missed some of the conversation only to speak up after Elsa ordered the cheese fries.

"To go, please," she said definitively.

"Oh, we're leaving?" Elsa dragged a finger through her whipped cream and stuck the small pile in her mouth.

"Yeah, I think I-" Anna finally looked away from the water and right at Elsa, "I know what I want to do."

* * *

Anna pointed to streets, delayed directions streaming out of her, _maybe it's this turn_ _WAIT WAIT it's this one_. Elsa didn't complain, only complied. They went down that nearly-familiar road by the houses and field, the sky brightening with each passing minute. Anna looked out of the windows intently and nearly gave Elsa a dang heart attack when she leaned over on her side and gleefully shouted, "ooh! Here's good!"

Anna all but rolled out of the car and giggled, "come on, come on!" Elsa followed with the to-go box of cheesy fries and a drink carrier of styrofoam cups. Anna abruptly sat down next to the largest tree, a mini-forest of trees behind it. Roots protruded from the ground like uneven wooden stairs and the lake in front presented like a stage. The geese were plentiful and quiet, not yet awake as the sun's rays creeped above the horizon.

They sat there, steaming styrofoam cups in hand. Anna was too awestruck by the peacefulness of the fresh morning air to lead a conversation and stuffed a handful of cheesy fries in her mouth instead. She then yawned and, in an act of both bravery and weariness, huddled close and leaned her head on Elsa's shoulder.

"This is really incredible, Anna." Elsa blew into her cup to cool it down and took a small sip.

Anna wasn't one for observation. She never took note of moments. Subtleties and particulars are usually lost upon her. But in this instance, time froze and gave her the chance to gaze, to linger. She soaked up each tiny detail of their surroundings, of the lake. Of the sleeping geese and the cotton candy sky. Of those darn delicious fries and of how the cheese clung to her fingers. Of Elsa, of how she'd said her name, of how it never sounded better. As she leaned more and more on Elsa's shoulder and her eyes grew heavier, the words just slipped out:

"You make mornings worth waking up for."


	7. Chapter 7

Anna sat on the bathtub floor, knees curled up. The scalding water from the shower beat on her back as she sipped contrastingly iced tea from her mug and thought about how mortified she was.

The previous day, she'd fallen asleep to the sound of water, to light hums, to distant goose quacks. She was floating away. Her dreams were bubblegum pink and felt like home. And that's when she woke to Elsa's hands cradling her face, asking if she wanted to sleep more or eat some cheesy fries because they were getting cold.

"No, no, I don't want to wake up," Anna sniffled and cozied herself back in Elsa's hands. "This is the best dream I've ever had." Her eyelids plunged shut again. She barely recalled saying that until the words mulled around in her brain some more. And then she remembered where she was and what she had said and _who_ she had said it to. Her head shot up and out of those hands, her eyes wide enough to eclipse the sun rising above the lake. She fumbled for the tree trunk behind them and used it to hoist her sleepy legs. There was a perfect print of her butt matted in the grass where she sat.

"We should, uh, we should get going." Anna squinted, either in the new brightness or at her stupid choice of words. Please. _As if_ she wanted to 'get going', instead of staying here in literal heaven and snoozing the day away on Elsa's nice shoulders.

Elsa's eyebrows drew together in question, though she nodded in agreement. They trekked back to the car and once it was moving, Anna couldn't help herself and fell asleep once more. She woke up as they were pulling into the parking lot and saw Elsa's hand hovered above her shoulder, probably caught mid-attempt to wake her, before the hand jerked back onto the steering barely offered warning of a hug as she wrapped her arms around Elsa swiftly and held on tight, drooling goodbyes against the older girl's shoulder and stumbling up to her own apartment.

So, Anna wasn't good at hiding her true feelings, that was a given. She just wanted to be able to hide them for at least a little longer- after all, it had only been a week since they met. _And two dates_ , some confident (delusional) inner voice added.

Thus, justifiably mortified. This feeling, along with the nervousness and eagerness, replayed in her head as she showered- yeah, she _actually_ set aside time to shower. Today was the first day that Anna had the class she'd changed her entire schedule to revolve around and there was no way, _no way_ , that she was going to show up looking like her usual decrepit roadkill self. She'd even set her dusty makeup bag on the counter. The class was supposed to be directly after her shift with only a hair of driving time, and this, she reasoned, would be the best (and only) time to do her routine.

As she dressed, the reflection in her vanity stared back at her pathetically and she shrugged at it, equally as pathetic, and then set to work on her face. Anna felt like a stressed and anxious bundle of excitement and very shakily swiped the last bit of mascara on. Her reflection had a great big smile and she called it. Today was going to be a great day.

She fully believed that, even when her backpack was nearly forgotten as she flew out the door.

All the bad feelings from before officially left her once she saw Elsa standing next to their cars. Her hands were clasped neatly in front of her, her head was tilted to the sky. She looked longing, not lonesome. All signs that she was waiting for someone, waiting for Anna. That thought was enticing, thrilling to the younger girl and made her heart skip a beat and her feet skip a step as she stumbled into Elsa's field of vision.

"Morning, you! Didn't want to be caught late again, huh?"

"Maybe you're the one who's late."

"It's not unlikely," Anna replied. Against her better judgement, she tried to be _casual_ – leaning against her car with her arms and legs crossed like some smug jock. Though when she looked up and met Elsa's eyes, she couldn't help her natural fidgety responses and tucked a few stray hairs behind her ear. "Hey, so I- I had a really good time yesterday."

"Even though you fell asleep?"

"Well, I-, uh," Anna's face fell as she stumbled over words, "I mean, -"

"Hey, don't worry," Elsa reached out a hand to her shoulder and very lightly pat it once, twice, before letting it rest there, "I'm kidding." It was a reassuring gesture for certain, but the heat from Elsa's hand was melting right through Anna's shirt and she could feel her skin happily boiling underneath. This little itty-bitty crush was getting out of hand.

"So, are you going to the Den today?"

"Of course. Not too long from now." Elsa let out a puff of amused air. "We could practically race there."

"A race?" Anna scoffed as she unlocked her car door, "You couldn't win a race against molasses up a hill."

Elsa went to her own door. "That may be true…" She looked Anna dead in the eye and annunciated carefully, "…but neither could you."

That set off some hot spark deep within Anna and she almost missed the sly smile Elsa gave her as she closed her door and drove off. Anna ducked down into her own car and sat there for an astonished moment before pulling her car into gear and leaving the parking lot. She was lost in her own elated thoughts, _was that flirting? I think that counts as flirting,_ and when she came upon her usual intersection, she'd noticed another car on the road, which was an unusual occurrence. Even more unusual- it was absolutely, without a doubt, Elsa's car.

She pulled into the lane next to the car and waved like a maniac. Elsa looked over and, if the windows had been down, Anna probably would've been lucky enough to hear her full-on horse laugh. _If it's a race she wants..._ Anna held down the brakes and tapped on the gas, revving her engine. An invitation.

Elsa looked startled, but not altogether displeased. In response, she revved her engine right back. Invitation… Accepted.

The light turned green and the girls sped off down the long road, giggling and throwing each other faux-dirty looks. They raced, going at near-molasses speeds, the few lights along the road alternating the insides of their cars from bright to dark, bright to dark.

Anna tried to keep her eyes both on the road and on her friend _. I mean, I have two eyes, I should be able to look at two things at once._ Unfortunately, she couldn't. Because that's not how eyes work. The car next to her slowed down and she tried to slow down alongside. Elsa waved and offered a small smile barely lit by the streetlights, her turn signal flashing.

She too waved goodbye, and watched as Elsa turned down a long road and disappear into the dark.

* * *

It was still dark when Elsa arrived, way earlier than usual. Anna was talking to someone in the drive through when she'd heard the cafe door open. The older girl entered with a wave and small smile, which the younger enthusiastically returned. Anna mimed _I'll be there in a moment,_ and pointed to her headset, _blah blah blah._ Elsa held a hand up, miming back, _not going anywhere_. From the corner where he was recording fridge temperatures, Kristoff pretended not to notice the exchange of wild hand gestures still taking place as each girl smiled and hid laughs more and more. More than he'd ever seen Anna do, even when she witnessed him drop mocha not only in a sink chock full of clean dishes, but also on his clean clothes. And hair. And entire face—okay, putting stain-worthy fluids in a wobbly container on a high shelf was a lesson he learned not only from the mess but also from Anna's resounding laughter that still echoed in Kristoff's head. Laughter he heard now from the same girl trying to cover her mouth and her blushes. He smiled to himself and went back to his clipboard.

Anna finished at the drive through and made her way to Elsa at the counter. "Well, hello. I think I beat you here by a good, oh, half an hour. Want your 2nd place- slash last place- slash loser consolation prize?" Elsa grinned, uttered something about a cheater, and nodded. "So, according to my sources, this should be the last drink on the list of good drinks. And boy, have I got the one for you! It's my go-to and yes, it is all about how it looks."

Elsa barely said yes, the briefest of agreements, before mayhem ensued. Anna grabbed a tea shaker from the grate on the sink. She reached into a fridge and pulled container after container of brightly colored liquids onto the counter, which she then poured into the shaker. It didn't look like she was measuring any of the ingredients, but she'd made this drink for herself so many times before that it was practically instinct. She pumped light orange syrup into the mix along with ice and lidded it. She shook it once, twice, locked on to Elsa's eyes with a cocky smirk, and threw the shaker high in the air. Elsa's eyes followed and her eyebrows practically flew off her face as Anna caught it and shika-shika-shook it a couple extra times. She unceremoniously dumped the mix into a cup, some ignored liquid splattered onto the counter. As a pièce de résistance, she topped it off with a splash of dark pink tea, cascading _eeeever soooo slooowly_ over the ice like a steady stream over rocks, creating a coral ombre sunset of a drink.

Anna confidently lidded it with great gusto and slid it across the counter enthusiastically. Her arms crossed over her chest and she smiled at Elsa, eyebrows waggling up and down as if to say _your turn_. Elsa very pointedly mumbled showoff as she reached for the drink and a straw.

Elsa examined it at arm's length. "This has no coffee in it?" Anna shook her head, and Elsa brought the cup closer, elbow's length. "So it's iced tea, then," inflection implied it as a question. She hovered over the straw and then took a sip.

Anna shook her head again, albeit slower. "It has caffeine but no coffee in it."

"Explains why I like it."

"You do? That's wonderful!"

"I do. I feel like I could order it every day." She shook the cup and the ice rattled along, "speaking of which, what do I say when I want to order this? The Anna special?"

"Yep!"

"Do other places have the Anna special?"

"Nope," Anna let out an over-the-top sigh and her shoulders raised in a light shrug, "I suppose you'll just have to keep coming here."

Anna's gaze followed the crinkles in Elsa's eyes down to the slightest crescent impression hovered above the raised corners of her lips. She could feel her cheeks color- from the strain of her huge smile or from affection, she couldn't say. The air was so light as they looked between each other, neither wanting to break the spell and neither aware there was one to break. The headset dinged and the rest of the sounds of the world came rushing back alongside it. Anna was immediately struck by how seamlessly they had faded away in the first place.

Anna rinsed the shaker and only somewhat thought about her words before they passed her lips, "I have to confess... I always miss you, I mean, 'til I see you next."

Elsa seemed... flustered, almost. Like she was warmer than an iced drink could ever fix. Like Anna hit the mark. She looked at Anna with those big bright eyes and her shoulders very visibly heaved as she took a deep breath and replied a response so unexpected, Anna almost got whiplash.

"Do you want to see where I go every morning?"

Now, Anna always assumed that Elsa did have a destination when she drove in the morning— hello, she liked the _drive?_ To wake up every morning at three _to drive?_ Please. But she didn't want to push. But she wanted to know. _BUT_ she didn't want to push.

And so, this meant the world to her. Elsa was letting her in. This moment was so intimate that she was dumbstruck and, finding herself incapable of speaking, only nodded in response.

"Do you want to go tomorrow?"

"Shoot, I can't, I have to be here."

"What about the next day?"

"Work again. This entire week is no good."

"What about after your shift today?"

"Yeah! I-" the brief excitement Anna had was squashed like a bug under a shoe, "wait, no, I can't. I really _really_ wish... but today's the first day of class..."

A spilt second of confusion lined Elsa's face before she shook it out. A great sadness replaced it, and Anna could feel her own sadness, her own desperation.

"Hey, Anna," Kristoff's voice, tinged with mild concern came in from the headset, "you don't look so good".

"Oh wow, yeah, thanks Kris, I'm just sad" she replied, annoyed and _thisclose_ to using her middle finger to press the talk button on her mic.

"No really, Anna. You look like you're sick. Really sick. The kind of sick where you have to leave early." Kristoff walked behind the bar to the view of both girls.

 _"What?"_ Her annoyance flew through the roof as she flipped around to face Kristoff, who stopped and crossed his arms.

"Anna, you feisty butthole, how _on earth_ are you not getting this?" His eyebrows shot high up on his forehead and his eyes flicked between her and Elsa. "Please leave the store."

"Oh?" The lightbulb clicked on. "Oh!"

She started to untie her apron and gave Elsa a reassuring look before heading to the back of the store to gather her things, variously volumed thank you's thrown in his direction.

He smiled and waved her off. "Make sure you still come back for tomorrow's shift!"

* * *

The drive wasn't very far from Anna's work. They were just outside the city, on a road adjacent to the main one. The sky was beginning to lighten against the dark clouds above; even through the tinted windows, a blue hue was cast over everything outside of the car. Inside the car, Anna was trying her darnedest not to stare at Elsa and was failing miserably. She wanted Elsa to speak up first- after all, this was her thing. _If I make it awkward and stare straight out the windshield, maybe she'll catch on and say something_ , she after no time at all, Anna found herself unable to do such a task without fidgeting and drumming on her legs to unheard music. _Okay, maybe instead I can just stare at her like a maniac. Blatant staring, yes, that'll get her attention._ This task, too, was met with difficulties as Anna couldn't stare for too long without feeling flushed and flustered and _squirmy_ at the light catching on Elsa's infinitely long eyelashes and the highlight on the apples of her cheeks and the slight up-curve of a smile that those seemingly-soft lips held— _yikes,_ Anna thought and looked away, _nice creeper mode_. She then opted to look at the car's ceiling, the dashboard, her hands still thrumming an increasingly rhythmless beat; she looked everywhere, everywhere but at Elsa. She pursed her lips as she viewed the passing scenery out of her own window, glazing over as they neared a few storefronts, a gas station, and a cemetery— the last of which made her suck in a big breath of air and hold it with comically puffed out cheeks.

"What are you doing?" Elsa had finally spoken first and even though Anna was grateful, the timing wasn't ideal.

"Oh, uh," her cheeks deflated, "I guess this does seem kinda strange out of context." She tilted her head and shrugged. "When I was younger and my mom would drive me somewhere, anytime we'd go near a cemetery she'd tell me to hold my breath until we passed it. I figure it's some superstition. Anyway, it's a habit that's stuck with me." She sucked in another breath, somehow even more audible.

"Oh, I see," Elsa replied coolly. She flipped on the turn signal, "I suppose you'll be holding your breath for a long time," and pulled into the driveway of the cemetery. It turned into a gravel road that led into a parking lot designated by a single small car doors echoed when shut, highlighting the emptiness of the solemn area surrounding them. They crunched their way down a thin stone trail. The trees let little light in through their thick leaves. The air was cool and left goosebumps on Anna's bare arms.

Anna was… confused. Although, what did she truly expect? She didn't know much about Elsa, a disheartening fact that she desperately wished to remedy.

The brief sadness was wholly overcome by fear. After all, _she didn't know much about Elsa._ Anna both could and couldn't believe that it took until this moment to realize that. What if this was all an elaborate rouse and Elsa was actually a kidnapper, or worse? She'd never seen this woman before a week ago, what if Elsa isn't her real name? What if this so-called Elsa garnered her trust and other intimate feelings so she could bring her to this cemetery, murder her in cold blood, and bury her in a shallow grave she'd already dug up?

"Woah," Elsa patted Anna on the shoulder and Anna jumped from the sudden contact, "where did you go just now?"

"Uhhh," Anna started. Nah, it's too far-fetched. "Sorry. I haven't been to a cemetery before."

Elsa accepted this as an answer and her eyes fell back to the walkway. "I don't blame you. I wouldn't go here if I didn't have to."

Anna barely noticed the grave sites around them as they were far and few between, some of them well off the main trail. That, coupled with the seclusion provided by the trees, added an air of privacy to the already quiet atmosphere.

As they walked, Anna's swaying arms kept bumping into Elsa's. Perhaps the pathway was too narrow, perhaps they weren't walking in time. Or perhaps Anna liked how Elsa was warmer than she thought and imagined that she could grab her hand and intertwine their fingers. Or whatever. The other girl murmured a small "almost there" and Anna'd almost forgotten that they were in a cemetery.

Elsa led them off the path toward a raised area with two stone steps as the entryway and a closed silver gate. She kept in front of Anna, unlatched the gate with an expert hand, and held it open. Her head jerked slightly, eyes reading _after you_.

Anna's gaze fell to the large, wide gravestone. Two names were printed there with minor descriptions below. Hands floated above, fingers joined together in an infinite grasp, carved in an embrace longer than life. She was unsure of where to go and shuffled her feet. Uncomfortable couldn't describe how she felt, until Elsa spoke up again. Words that made sense to Anna, words that made her realize the importance of this day.

"Hey mom, dad," Elsa walked ahead and motioned to the girl behind her, "This is Anna."

Anna found her voice, "they know me?"

"You've been brought up once or twice," she said, slowly settling a hand on the gravestone, "Maybe three times, anyway, I'm glad I could finally bring you here."

Elsa sat on the concrete edging that surrounded the gravesite. She looked up to Anna, still pacing on place, and patted the space next to her with a dull thud.

"You must've been really close to them," Anna breathed out as she went to sit on the space offered.

"I wasn't always. The first three years or so were hard. I never came here. I never came to talk to them I, well, I tried to push them from my mind, honestly. Which was unfortunate for a multitude of reasons, some more obvious than others. I'd grown up knowing that I was going to take over their company eventually but I didn't know it would be so soon. Reminders of them were all around me at the office and one day I just... I snapped.

"I was mad. Mad at them, mad at the drunk driver... mad at myself. I came here to talk to them and ended up yelling at them. It was..." Elsa sighed, her breath heavy, "it was so much. I lost it. I lost them, and that was the first time I had acknowledged it."

Anna had no idea what to say, what to do with her face. She instead placed her hand on Elsa's, encouraging her to continue. "I kept coming back because that first time made me feel so much better. It was so freeing, it was better than any kind of closure I could get, and- in a ridiculous way, their deaths made it easier to talk to them." She exhaled shakily, as if that admission were the first time she'd said it out loud. "I usually come here after work and tell them about my day, about things that have happened, things they've missed. Most of the time, I don't get to finish my stories before the cemetery closes so I come back as soon as I can so I can finish telling them."

"So they're not left with some kind of cliffhanger?"

"Yes, that's a good way to put it." Elsa looked relieved. Maybe at Anna's lack of invasive questions, maybe at the weight off her shoulders. She placed her hands in her lap and stared at her parent's gravestone, her thumbs rubbing the backs of her hand. Anna wondered how many times she had done that before, this same scene, and felt herself lean back to stare at the shroud of trees above.

Eventually, they left through the gates, through the trail. The faint rustle of leaves above and the crunch of stones beneath their feet accompanied them in the otherwise silent and comfortable journey. Anna could piece a few things together; their "dates", their admissions. Their truths. Their bare arms brushed again as they exited the cemetery gate and Anna took that as her sign. She gathered all her courage and turned to look Elsa in the eye. Her face was just barely illuminated from the dark sky, highlighted by a pale streetlamp.

"Hey, I- um," Anna's voice wavered, "I didn't want to do this in front of your parents," she said, reaching out to hold Elsa's warm arms.

She leaned in with all the confidence she'd ever had and their lips met in a soft kiss.


End file.
